Tales and Rants from a Fiery Imp

Menu

Oh “Marketing” Job postings, how I love thee

I wasn’t planning on writing a post day, honestly, I haven’t felt very good. Today was dark and gloomy, so I curled up to read Primal Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, hoping for some good insight on a up coming column on the Redwood Chronicles. But because I was in a funk, all it did was piss me off and bring back bad memories of employment, so I put it down. Besides some other bumps in the road, today was not my day.

I received a phone call, from a job posting that I applied for yesterday (flag number one). You must realize that I apply for 10-15 jobs a day over the week, for about 3 days (assuming that there is a healthy amount of jobs I’m willing to apply for). I don’t always investigate the company or even solely follow the companies requirements. My chances of getting a job are slim, I’ll be honest about that, solely because there are so many people also applying. If it’s a job posting that is in my field of study and is what I’m looking for, completely different story. I read that posting and all of the details, change my resume and cover letter. You may not approve of my approach, but in this awesome economy we’re in, I have no other choice.

Back to my phone call. I received a call for an Entry-Level Account Manager position in Concord, a great 19 mile 45 minute drive. Fine, I can do that. The lady on the phone was nice but ran through the job details VERY quickly (second red flag). The only question she asked me was if I was willing to make the commute (third flag). I normally receive a lot more questions than just that. I agreed to an interview tomorrow. Something didn’t sit right with me. My inner imp, was not excited about an interview.

I went to their website, looks legit, has some good offers for their employees. They stated things like; training, we care about your personal growth blah blah blah. After starting to read about proper management skills from Goleman, it sounded ok. Then I went to their career page, only one job was posted, the Entry-Level Account Manager which I had applied for (red flag four). So you’re going to tell me that a company that consults for Fortune 500 companies only has one job offer? And it fills the whole page?

Now you’ve made me mad…time to use the all knowing Google.

After about 10 minutes of research, it seems that this company is a door-to-door office supply seller. (Bingo, Inner imp was correct). They share an office with the same type of company. This particular company branched off a year ago from a company in the neighboring city. According to their website, an employ left the wonders of sales to be front desk and help with HR, what? Then I googled the office supply company…and even more blogs and comments came up with door to door sales! I can’t even remember what number of red flags!

Screw that! I did not waste a 4 year education and military service to sell paper and staplers. Nope, not going to do it, I’ve been fooled before.

I accepted a business to business position before, 100% commission. I quit 3 days later and god knows how many miles I walk in San Francisco. Not saying that I can sell, or even walk down the street, but I will not offer items to business that did not ask for my services first! Some people call this job a scam, I won’t do that. It’s not a scam, it’s still a business and people thrive in that kind of environment. More power to those people who can make a living that way, it’s a job and a career. It’s just not for me. If I want to sell items, it will be larger equipment or technical items, not paper or pizza coupons or magazines! I want to client to want me to be there and help them with their business.

I’ve been offered these positions before, because they HIDE what the position is on the posting. I know I stated above that I don’t read in great detail, but I can understand what “Business to Business” or “Door to Door’ means. Don’t blanket the offer with “marketing”, that’s a whole other position! Just don’t lie to me with a posting and your crappy website. Be honest, don’t wait until the interview. They will take anyone! I’m no special to them, they don’t care about my education and experience. But they are the first ones to offer employment. Grrr.

It just makes me angry, I hate being lied too. I think I’m done with my rant for now, I’m sure I’ll find more important things later about this, now I need to write an email stating that I won’t be present for the awesome opportunity that they have provided me with.

Post navigation

One thought on “Oh “Marketing” Job postings, how I love thee”

Hang in there, Sailor Swearer. I hope you find something soon…. you can always use me as a reference. Or if you REALLY want the job, say you DON’T know me. Kind of like an anti-reference thing, but it works in your favor.